


you're biting my tongue

by cresselia



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-16
Updated: 2014-03-08
Packaged: 2018-01-12 16:08:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1191321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cresselia/pseuds/cresselia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The way he sees it, he has a year left to romance her. Well, less than a year if he wants to take her to prom, but he figures that trying to date Amy Santiago is the kind of thing that someone should attempt in steps and not leaps. (high school au!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. i

“Santiago.”

“Santiago.”

“Santiago.”

“Amy.”

“Santiago.” 

“Santi--”

“What.”

Jake grinned triumphantly as Amy whirled around, glaring at him with an intensity she usually reserved for AP tests and guilty pleasure snacking.

“Good morning!”

Amy groaned and narrowed her eyes, taking a long sip of her coffee. After three years of already riding the train together in the morning to school, Jake knew better than to pick on her before she's fully awake, but it was the first day of their senior year and some habits were just too difficult (read: enjoyable) to kick.

Besides, they were in public and that meant he was safe.

He tapped on her shoulder a few more times but ultimately gave up when she refused to react to his baiting. They didn't speak to each other until the train arrived at their stop and the pair exited onto the platform.

“You ready?” she asked, taking another sip of her coffee. 

“Nope. You?”

 “I've been ready for senior year since I was a freshman.” 

Jake smiled almost fondly as Amy turned on her heel towards the direction of their school but caught himself as he rushed to catch up with her. He knew she hadn't been joking, though. If there were only a few things he knew about Amy Santiago, they were that she had never missed or been late for a day of school in her entire life, had a caffeine addiction she was in deep denial about, was definitely (probably) still a virgin, and had planned every single moment of her life since she had started developing her own autonomy. 

As they reached the crosswalk, he frowned. “We're going to have to look at all of Boyle's vacation pictures.”

“I bet they're all going to be of food.”

“If you could put an approximate dollar value on how sure of that you are, what would it be?”

Amy snorted and looked up at him with a raised eyebrow as they continued walking. “I take it the end of summer job hunt didn't go well?”

“Being in debt to all of your friends is no laughing matter, Santiago.”

“Crippling debt,” she corrected. “Besides, I'm one of them. I'm allowed to make jokes.”

“But they're not _funny_ ,” Jake whined.

“I think they're pretty funny.”

“You think pictures of dogs with eyebrows drawn on them are funny.”

She shot him a glare as they approached the campus. There was still ample time until the bell was to ring, and a good majority of the students were gathered in groups outside, catching up and going over their summers. Jake looked around, trying to spot anyone else in their friend group. 

Neither had seen Boyle, who spent the last month of his summer on a trip to Italy with his parents, for some time, and with his disappearance, Rosa seemed to find an escape as well. Amy claimed to have kept in touch with her via text, but he wasn't believing it until he saw some proof. Gina, meanwhile, dropped completely off the grid. To be entirely honest, they weren't even sure if she was alive still, but both figured she would claw her way back to school if only to make inappropriate comments and laugh to herself while everyone else became uncomfortable. 

Fortunately for Jake and unfortunately for Amy, they lived close enough that they weren't able to shake one another. Jake had made it his summer mission to ruin every single plan of Amy's he could, and she had bought various different locks that she had to change on her bedroom window all summer. More than once he'd tried to climb through it, claiming that as two hot single teenagers whose friends had abandoned them, they were absolutely required to hook up and have a fling.

She, naturally, didn't agree with that particular train of thought.

“Maybe they're inside,” Amy said thoughtfully.

“Or maybe Boyle got stuck in Italy, Gina really _is_ dead, and Rosa eloped with a member of the mob.”

Amy took a deep breath in and frowned up at him. “I don't know why I put up with you this early in the morning.” 

“Must be my good looks and charming personality.”

“Yeah. Must be.”

– 

“Welcome to Legal Studies III. As you can tell from the course title, this is the third installation of this class. If you have not passed Legal Studies I or II, please leave now and visit the guidance department to rectify this mistake.” 

Jake leaned forward in his seat. “What if you only passed with a D?”

Holt remained deadpan. “Welcome back, Peralta. I trust we'll have a mundane repeat of last year's mediocrity?” 

“You know me well, sir.” 

Amy groaned in the seat next to him, sinking down. She figured there was a good chance if she willed it hard enough, she could probably disappear. Sure, Jake was her friend, but Professor Holt was her hero, and she didn't want to be found guilty by association.

“I'd like to introduce you all to the teaching assistant for this year. Terrence Jeffords is currently a graduate student and one of my former students.”

He gestured to the surprisingly tall man standing next to him.

“You guys can just call me Terry.”

Behind her, Amy heard Gina practically purr, and she fought the urge to bury her face in her hands. Perhaps in her four year high school plan she should have included finding new friends.

“Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, I would like you all to turn to page fifteen in your books so we can begin our first lesson.”

Holt turned around to face the whiteboard, writing the chapter title across it.

“Psst. Hey, Amy! Psst,” Jake whispered, leaning over to her.

“Shh!”

“I forgot my book.”

She shot him a look. “What do you want me to do about it?” 

“Can we share?”

Sucking in her breath, Amy pinched the bridge of her nose. When she let it out, she sighed and nodded. Jake grinned and moved his chair closer to her desk, causing a disturbing screeching noise to echo throughout the classroom.

“Peralta. Santiago.”

Amy froze in her seat, wishing more than ever she could actually make herself disappear. Holt had knew it was them without even turning around. Oh yeah, definitely guilty by association.

“I, uh, forgot my book. Santiago was just letting me look along with her.”

Holt turned around, capping the marker in his hand. “That won't be necessary. I believe the syllabus I sent out to everyone a week ago requested that every student bring their book to every class. It's a requirement.”

“Yeah... I kind of just forgot?”

Holt's face remained neutral. “I'm going to have to ask you to leave class.”

Jake's jaw nearly dropped. “Are you serious?” 

“I'm lenient with other classes, but Legal Studies III is open only to seniors. It is my job to prepare you for higher education, and I take that responsibility very seriously. In college, professors will kick you out for less. Hopefully this will teach you to remember your book from now on.” 

Jake tried to catch Amy's glance out of the corner of his eye but caught her looking down at her desk instead. He bit down on the inside of his cheek and stood up, collecting his backpack. 

“Fine. I'm out.”

“Please do remember your book tomorrow.” 

“Sure thing,” Jake replied under his breath as he exited the door. 

As Holt turned back to the whiteboard, Amy tucked her hair behind her ear self consciously and looked over at Rosa, who appeared disinterested. Charles sat nearby her, trying to discreetly peer out of the door's window to catch a glimpse of Jake. Gina was texting furiously under her desk. 

Only a few moments later, Amy received a text from Gina: a picture of Holt from the yearbook with a golden crown drawn sloppily on his head. The caption read “DRAMA QUEEN”. 

–

“Where do you think Jake went?” Charles asked anxiously as the group left the room. As soon as they were in the hallway, he turned his head frantically in every direction for any sign of their friend.

Amy, although curious, refused to follow his example. With her luck, the moment she showed any sign of concern, he would jump out from inside one of the lockers with an exuberant “gotcha!”

“I don't know,” she said instead. “The cafeteria maybe?”

“Or home,” piped in Gina. “That's what I'd do.”

With Legal Studies being their last class of the day, Amy realized it could be a possibility. With a slight frown, she realized she'd probably have to ride the train home alone. 

“Are we doing anything now?” Rosa asked, burying her hands in the pockets of her leather jacket. 

“If we are, we should text Jake,” Boyle said insistently. 

“I kind of have a lot of homework already,” Amy said quickly, idly playing with one of the straps on her backpack. “I'll catch up with you guys tomorrow?”

Charles agreed quickly, and Rosa nodded. Gina was preoccupied with her reflection in her handheld mirror. With a sheepish smile, Amy waved and headed off in the opposite direction. Once she was out of sight, she pursed her lips and pulled her phone out of her pocket. She scrolled through the contacts until she reached the P's.

' _Pineapples_ '. 

She selected Jake's contact name and opened up a new text: “ _Hey where are you?_ ” and sent it with a slight frown. 

It only took a few moment before she got a reply.

“ _sal's._ ”

Amy knew the brief message was both an indication of leftover irritation but also an open invitation. Of course, she wasn't lying when she told the others that she already had loads of homework, but she could probably get some of it done over a slice.

She quickly sent back “ _See you in five_ ” and exited the building. 

Sal's was a nearby pizza place that had been Jake's favorite since their freshman year. He claimed it was the best pizza in all of New York, prompting many an argument between himself and Charles. Amy, being neither a self proclaimed foodie or pizza aficionado, tended to stay out of it. Rosa and Gina just didn't care.

 As she entered the restaurant, Amy realized that she should have thought of Sal's first, but it had only recently been rebuilt after it caught fire the previous summer. She'd forgotten it was open again, but of course Jake hadn't. He'd probably been counting down the days until he'd be able to go back.

She spotted him alone in a booth towards the back, staring intently at his phone screen. As she sat down, he didn't even look up or nod in acknowledgment of her presence.

Amy cleared her throat. 

“Hey do you know how to get past level fifty eight of Candy Crush?” he asked, still not looking up from his phone.

“You know I don't play Candy Crush,” she replied, brow furrowed.

Jake clicked his phone shut and tossed it down on the table with a small smirk. “Right. I forgot you were allergic to fun.”

Amy rolled her eyes. “I thought you already went home." 

“Why would I go home when I could go to Sal's?” he asked as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“I don't know. I just thought you might have. Well, Gina thought you did.”

Jake tilted his head. “Hey, where are the rest of them anyway?” 

“Oh, uh, they all had stuff to do. I just figured I'd see where you were so I'd know if I had to wait for you or not.”

“Wait for me?”

“The train." 

Jake's expression broke out into a wicked grin as he leaned over and pinched Amy's cheeks. She swatted his hand away with a scowl. “Awww, you were going to wait for me!”

“Only because you deflect weirdos! I'm a young teenage girl on public transportation – when they see me with you they just assume I'm already being harassed and leave me alone.”

“Too many cooks in the kitchen,” Jake replied, nodding his head sagely.

Amy scoffed and an almost tense silence fell between them. It felt strange after three months of weirdly comfortable companionship. Maybe that was why she'd waited for him before leaving to go home. She'd been in denial of it while actually making the decision, but it was only natural to seek him out after spending the entire summer with just the two of them. She was just used to him being around was all.

“Hey, uh, do you wanna go?” Jake asked, nodding towards her backpack.

“Oh, yeah. Right. Homework. Sure.”

Amy blinked back to attention and collected her bag, slinging it back over her shoulders. Jake followed behind her as they left, waving goodbye to Sal and showering him with compliments. They walked back to the train station together, neither really speaking but keeping an even pace with the other. The train was mostly empty when they boarded, and they were able to find two seats next to each other near the front of the cart.

“... Did I get you in trouble?”

“Hm?”

Jake looked almost bashful and guilty as he avoided eye contact with her, focusing intently on staring out of the window. “With Holt, I mean. Because I guess I kind of deserve being on his bad side, but he shouldn't be a dick to you. You didn't do anything wrong.”

“He didn't say anything to me,” Amy replied quietly.

“Good. You know, because I remember you told me you wanted him to write you a recommendation letter for college or whatever. I just didn't want to screw that up for you.”

If it had been anyone else besides maybe Rosa, the conversation might have felt strange. While their group of friends was close, they never really opened up like this much, least of all herself in Jake. If anything, they were in near constant competition with each other. Conversations like this would have simply shown weakness.

But Amy was sure something had changed in their friendship over the summer. Not drastically, but it was subtle. It made conversations like this okay. It was why she didn't feel self conscious when he barged into her house early in the morning before she was ready for the day. It was why she knew that the reason he did that was because he hadn't felt particularly comfortable at home since his dad left him and his mom. It was why she felt almost guilty for not saying anything in class when Holt reprimanded him. 

The term best friends felt a little juvenile to her, but maybe partners was the correct word.

“I think it's okay,” she said softly. Jake nodded at her, and she reached into her bag. “Oh, before I forget, I made two sets of notes... I figured you probably won't read them, but they might be helpful or something.” 

She handed the sheet of looseleaf paper to him, and Jake accepted it with an unintelligible look in his eyes.

“Thanks.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

She smiled almost nervously up at him before breaking eye contact and looking down at the floor of their cart. The train stopped, and the pair got up and left the station. 

“I'm going to head over to the library,” Amy said, as they walked out onto the sidewalk.

Jake nodded. “Alright. See you tomorrow?”

“Yeah.”

He waved to her quickly before turning on his heel and heading home. After Amy finished her trek to the library and sat down at an open table, her phone vibrated on the table. She picked it up to find a text from Jake. It was a picture of him holding his Legal Studies textbook triumphantly.

She couldn't help but smile and quickly text back the thumbs up emoji before she turned her phone off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i honestly can't remember the last time i wrote fanfiction, but jake and amy are absolutely perfect and i specialize in high school au's. if you get the title reference, you're my favorite person.


	2. ii

Jake crackled his knuckles, eyes shifting around the room. He could see everyone around him following suit, sizing each other up. There were only five minutes until it was over. Then the real animosity would begin. People would be sent away injured, some people might lose their teeth, friendships would be destroyed in irreparable ways.

For a poor select few, their lives would never be the same again.

“Alright guys, huddle up.”

He pulled Charles, Rosa, Gina, and an exasperated Amy into a small huddle, their faces all close together. When he opened his mouth to speak again, Amy wrinkled her nose.

“Did you even brush your teeth this morning?”

“I have some gum you can borrow, Jake,” Charles supplied.

“Okay, I definitely brushed my teeth. But focus! If we don't come up with a plan, we'll be done for for sure.”

Gina raised her eyebrows. “I, for one, plan on using Charles as a human shield.”

He smiled appreciatively at her before realizing the weight of her statement. “Hey--”

“I don't know why you guys are so worried,” Rosa said, “This stuff is a piece of cake.”

Jake scoffed. “ _That's_ because you're part girl, part machine.”

“It's just dodgeball,” Amy sighed. She tried to pull herself away from the huddle only to feel Jake tighten his grip on her shoulder.

“ _Just_ dodgeball? _JUST_ dodgeball? Amy, this is a sacred ritual. A game passed down from high school student to high school student. And if one of us gets knocked out by an underclassmen I am going to be _pissed_.”

Before any of them could get another word in, a whistle blew sharply.

“Dammit! Okay. Just protect the core areas, guys. Face, stomach, and crotch.” Jake paused contemplatively for a moment before pointing to Amy's chest. “And for the ladies, don't forget--”

“Point to my breasts one more time and I will rip off your finger.”

“Fair enough.”

The coach stepped in the middle of the court on the line dividing the two sides, clearing his throat for attention. “Now remember, clean shots everyone. And I don't want anyone drawing blood.” He shot Rosa a look out of the corner of his eye.

“Other than that, it's fair game. You can start when I step off the court.”

Jake rolled his shoulders, shifting his weight from foot to foot. Just as he was about to turn and give some last minute advice to Charles, he heard someone yell his name from across the court.

“Hey! Peralta! Your giant white ass is mine.”

He could've recognized that voice anywhere.

“Vulture,” he cursed under his breath, wrinkling his nose and turning to face him. Jake took a step towards the edge of the line. “What do you want, Pembroke?”

“Just want you to know I'm going to by aiming my balls right for your face.”

“Thanks for the visual. But I think I should warn you, it is I who will be doing the ball hitting. On the face. Your face. I'm trying to say I'm going to smack you in the face with my balls.”

“Yeah, I got that.”

Jake crossed his arms. “Good.”

“And then after I take out you, I'm going to take out your lady friends. On dates. And then do them all at once.”

“You're disgusting!” Amy yelled from several feet away.

“That wasn't a no,” the Vulture yelled back.

Amy elbowed Rosa, who looked as though she was briefly considering it. “I'm saying no! On behalf of all of us!”

“Your loss!”

“Alright, listen, leave them out of this. Your beef is with me.”

The Vulture glared at him. “Whatever, Peralta. See you on the court.” He turned his heel to walk away.

“We're already on the court,” Jake yelled behind him.

Behind him, Charles wrinkled his nose. “Why does everyone call him The Vulture anyway?”

“He's a three time senior,” Amy supplied.

“And he preys on freshman girls. Which is actually illegal at this point,” Gina added, shrugging thoughtfully at the last sentence.

“He'd be kind of hot if he wasn't so creepy,” Rosa said.

Charles look at in befuddlement. “I still don't understand yo-- Ow!” He fell to the ground, holding his eye. A red ball bounced away, only reaching a few inches before being picked up by Rosa and being whipped in the direction of a short, unsuspecting boy on the other side of the court.

“Ha! Joke's on you, Diaz! It was me,” The Vulture yelled, ducking behind a group of girls.

“Were you guys even paying attention? The game started,” Jake exclaimed, picking up a ball, only to toss it aside and drop to the ground while avoiding being hit.

Gina shrugged and picked up the fallen ball, tapping herself in the shoulder. “Oh no. I've been hit.”

“Gina!”

“What? I don't want to get sweaty,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. She helped Charles off the ground, and they walked over to the sidelines where the others who had already been hit were waiting.

“It's like they don't even care,” Jake said with a frown.

“That's because they don't-- Hey, where did Rosa go?” Amy asked, looking around.

She caught sight of Rosa only a few moments later, ducking and weaving behind teammates, a red ball in each hand. Someone threw another in her direction that she easily deflected with one of the ones she was already holding, quickly throwing another back at the kid. It hit him square in the back and she yelled triumphantly.

“Ha! Suck it, sophomore!”

Amy's eyes widened in alarm, and Jake grabbed her arm to pull her out of range of another ball before she could even get a comment out.

“Come on – get your head in the game, Santiago!”

“I don't even like dodgeball! I'm like a...ball magnetic or something.”

“Ball magnetic! The name of your sex tape,” he exclaimed, jumping up quickly to catch a ball, sending a kid on the other side to the sidelines. He tossed the ball over to Amy.

“Here, give it a try.”

“I have bad aim.”

“Just _try_.”

She sighed in a drawn out overly exaggerated manner, then looked for an easy target. There was what appeared to be a small freshman hiding on the outskirts of the court, but she felt too bad to throw the ball in his direction. Instead, she opted for a girl in their grade that once completely bailed on her in a partner project. Seeing the ball fly roughly at her knee gave Amy a strange sense of satisfaction.

A smile bloomed on Amy's face, and she turned back to face Jake. “That actually felt kind of good!”

“See! It's a rush. Gym class can be fun even if you are an athletically challenged bookworm.”

“I'm not athletically challenged,” she replied with a frown.

Their conversation was cut short as Rosa swore from a few feet away, throwing one of the balls on the court floor in rage. It bounced up and hit one of their few remaining teammates in the face.

“That counts,” The Vulture yelled from across the court, pointing towards the growing list of knocked out students.

“We are not loosing to him,” Jake growled, picking up a stray ball and throwing it in his direction. He dodged it easily and stuck his tongue out.

Amy squeaked and narrowly dodged a ball aimed at her, instead letting it hit Hitchcock behind her.

He dropped the ball in his hand in disappointment. “Aw man.”

When Amy looked around, she finally noticed that nearly everyone else had been knocked out. Only she and Jake were left on their side, and as she turned to look for her teammate, she noticed him knocking out one of the two remaining kids on the other side.

Now, there was only three of them left. Herself, Jake, and The Vulture.

“Santiago, look alive,” Rosa yelled, pointing towards the other side of the court.

Amy barely snapped back to attention in time to dodge a ball thrown in her direction. As she knelt down to pick it up, she heard Jake yell and felt herself be pushed aside. She skidded on the gym floor, about to yell when she noticed the ball rolling away from Jake's direction.

“Jake!”

“I'll take this bullet for you,” he said, picking himself up. “Just don't lose, okay?”

She nodded, immediately feeling her competitive streak kick in. She didn't just have to win – she had to avenge both Jake and Charles. If she lost, she knew she'd never hear the end of it from Jake or The Vulture.

“Just you and me,” The Vulture called, tossing a ball in between his hands. “If you just give up now, I won't send you to the nurse's office.”

“If _you_ give up now, I won't embarrass you in front of everyone,” she countered.

“Fine. Have it your way, Santiago.”

He threw the ball in his hand at her, which she easily dodged. When he cursed and picked up another, Amy dropped the ground and missed it again. She dodged shot after shot after shot until The Vulture found himself bereft of anymore dodgeballs on his side of the court.

“Would you look at that?” Amy said, picking up two of the balls with a smirk.

“C'mon Santiago. Draw?”

“Hmmm. I don't think so.”

She took a step forward, whipping the ball over at him. He managed to evade the hit, picking up the fallen ball and sliding away to miss the second one thrown at him. Amy cursed and ran over to grab another one of the fallen balls on her side of the court.

As she wasn't looking, The Vulture picked himself up and threw the ball he was holding at her.

Rosa and Jake yelled to grab her attention, and just as Amy looked up, she spotted the ball flying at her. Taking a chance she crouched down and opened her arms, managing to catch the ball, losing her balance and falling back on her butt.

Before she could even get out a word in victory, she heard Jake yell in triumph from across the court and The Vulture groan. The win actually felt all kind of great, and she felt something extra in her posture as she picked herself up. Unfortunately, no one else seemed to care as they filed into the locker rooms with the sound of the coach's whistle.

Jake, Rosa, Gina, and Charles met her halfway off the court. Charles, who was holding his eye, beamed brightly at her, Gina seemed disinterested, and Rosa looked almost proud. Jake, meanwhile, looked positively over the moon as he rushed over to her, scooping her up in a tight hug that felt natural for all of two seconds before she had to yell at him to let go of her.

“Amy, that was so cool,” Charles gushed.

She winced. “How's your eye?”

“Who cares,” Jake exclaimed, “You kicked The Vulture's ass!”

“Jake, that's rude. One of us should take him to see the nurse,” Amy replied with a frown. She shot him an expectant look that seemed to go completely over his head until Rosa rolled her eyes and grabbed Charles' arm to drag him away.

–

“How's the eye?”

Jake was waiting outside of the nurse's office for Charles, who had missed Holt's class. Amy left with Rosa and Gina to go to Rosa's house, and Jake opted to stay behind for their missing friend. When Charles finally came out of the office with a baggie wrapped in a paper towel over his eye, it took every fiber of his self control not to burst into laughter.

“The nurse wants me to go see an optometrist,” Charles grumbled.

“Want me to beat up The Vulture for you?” Jake asked.

“Would you? That would mean a lot.”

“Absolutely not. I was just trying to make you feel better, but I can't risk damaging the merchandise.” Jake pointed to his face. “Speaking of things I don't want to do, Amy game me some notes she took for you since you missed class. Their in my backpack, but taking them out requires effort.”

“That was nice of her. She's always so thoughtful.”

Jake rolled his eyes. “Yeah, she's alright sometimes.”

Charles shot him a look. “'Alright'. I thought you were going to kiss her earlier or something.”

“Gross. Why something like that even cross your mind, pervert?”

Charles shrugged. “You just looked so proud of her after the dodgeball game. And you guys just seem closer this year.”

“That's because we were stuck together all summer after you guys ditched us. You're reading way too much into this.”

“If you say so. But you have to admit that you're different with Amy.”

Jake stopped walking and crossed his arms. “ _How_?”

“Well, you and Rosa are friends. You guys have that weird mutual respect going on, but there's nothing intimate there. … Right? You'd tell me if there was, wouldn't you?”

“I don't want to bone Rosa.”

“Good. I mean. Whatever – it's whatever. I don't care.”

Jake rolled his eyes. “Just finish the thing about Amy.”

“Oh! Right! Yeah, and you've been friends with Gina longer than the rest of us, but she's like your sister or something. She calls your grandmother 'Nana'. That screams platonic. But sometimes you and Amy just seem like... I don't know. Like there's something extra there. You always pick on her.”

“Yeah, I tease her because I'm a teenage boy. Not because I want to makeout with her.”

“Or maybe you pick on her because you're a teenage boy and you don't know any other way to makeout with her.”

“I don't want my tongue in Amy's mouth!”

“Awfully defensive, Jakey.”

“Don't call me that.”

Charles gulped. “Duly noted. But you have to admit, sometimes it does seem like you're...pulling on Amy's pigtails or something.”

“She's just easy to rile up, and it's fun getting a reaction out of her. You're reading way too much into this,” Jake scoffed, sticking his hands in his pockets and he started his way back down the hallway again.

Charles jogged to catch up with him, taking extra steps to keep up with his taller friend's stride. “If you say so, but you were the one who asked for _my_ opinion.”

“Well, remind me never to do that again.”

–

Jake felt the buzzing in his pocket, signaling another missed text. He knew it was yet another one from Amy who he assumed had already seen from her phone that he viewed her first message and ignored it. She was annoyingly persistent.

He tapped his feet impatiently on the floor of the train, knowing he still had a handful of stops to wait through before he reached his. Worst of all, he couldn't even use his phone to play games because Amy was texting him every ten seconds. To be honest, he didn't even know what she wanted. He resolved not to check them after he read the first “hey”.

Something about the conversation he'd had with Charles earlier was still nagging at him, and he just wasn't entirely sure that he was ready to face Amy yet. Well, figuratively speaking, of course. He wouldn't actually have to face her until tomorrow, unless he pretended to be sick, but that was kind of pushing it for this early in the year.

Then, he heard his ringtone muffled in his pocket. She was calling him. What was she, like, in her forties?

“Did you seriously just call my phone?” he asked, brow furrowed.

“You weren't answering my texts.”

“You definitely saw the first one.”

Jake internally cursed. “Well, I'm on the train. I can't text – I have to make sure I don't miss my stop.”

“Okay, weirdo. I was just making sure you gave Charles the notes I took for him.”

“Oh yeah. I actually did do that. The Vulture gave him a black eye.”

He could practically imagine the face Amy was making at her house, brow furrowed and nose wrinkled all cute-like-- Wait. Not cute. Just...Santiago-like. Dammit Charles.

“Is he okay?”

“I think so. The nurse just wants him to see an optom-whatever to make sure.”

“Optometrist. Doctors who specialize on eyes.”

“Yeah. That thing.”

The conversation fell into a short lull, one that wouldn't have bothered him until now. But it felt awkward to him, and Jake cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Uh, where are you now?” Amy asked.

“Only a stop away,” he replied quickly, letting heavy silence fall quickly between them again. Somehow, he could tell Amy was debating with herself. She was never quiet for this long, and it struck him how well he had really gotten to know her during the past summer.

“Do you wanna grab something to eat when you get here? I can meet you at the stop.”

Jake swallowed hard, the prospect of eating with Amy suddenly making him nervous. Which was completely stupid and unnecessary and totally Charles' fault. The more he thought about seeing Amy in person while trying to get rid of the poison Charles had planted inside of him, the more uncomfortable he felt.

“Oh, um, I kind of have a lot of homework tonight.”

“You actually have a lot of homework every night. Since when do you care about doing it?”

“I just want to have a good senior year,” he replied quickly. “And my mom's really pushing me this year or whatever.”

“Oh... Yeah, okay. It's fine.”

“Yeah... Maybe this weekend?”

It was silent for a beat, as if Amy had spaced out.

“Right. Sure. This weekend. Definitely.”

“Cool. See you tomorrow morning?”

“I'm actually going in early tomorrow to help out with a student government thing.”

“Oh... Well, I'll see you sometime tomorrow.”

“Yeah, of course. Uh... Bye Jake.”

He could feel something in his stomach drop. “Bye Amy.”

She ended the call before he could even pull his phone away from his ear, and he couldn't help but notice that he felt even more off now. And he hadn't even written any of his homework down except for Holt's. The prospect of being alone with Amy just felt like too much at the moment, but he felt even worse for turning her down like that. It wasn't a date or anything, but she just sounded so disappointed that it made him feel even worse.

Fucking Charles.


	3. iii

“Come on, it'll be fun.”

 

“Absolutely not.”

 

“But Amy--”

 

“Gina, I swear to God.”

 

The two girls were whispering back and forth in the library, Gina raising her voice with every protest and Amy trying to keep quiet. Amy had made the mistake of letting Gina know that her parents and brothers would all be out for the night. Of course, Amy had seen the peace and quiet as an opportunity to get a head start on Holt's essay.

 

Gina had other ideas in mind.

 

“Amy Santiago, if you don't throw a party at your house tonight, I will scream so loudly right now that we will be banned from the library for the rest of our lives.”

 

“Gina, don't you dare.”

 

With a challenging glare, Gina took in a deep breath and opened her mouth.

 

“Fine! Fine, I'll think about it!”

 

Gina let the breath out and shot her friend a triumphant grin. “I knew you'd come around to my way of thinking.”

 

“I only said I'll think about.”

 

“Oh, Amy, Amy, Amy.” With each word, Gina shook her head and patted Amy on the shoulder. She stood up from her seat, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. “You have no idea how far this rabbit hole goes.”

 

“What does that even mean?”

 

“I'm sure you'll find out tonight, little Alice.”

 

Amy glared at Gina's retreating form. “Making Alice in Wonderland allusions doesn't make you sound smart!”

 

She was immediately shh'ed by the librarian and could hear Gina cackling from the doorway.

 

–

 

“Amy, what the hell?”

 

“Not cool, Santiago!”

 

Amy looked up from her textbook with a start, eyes wide. Rosa and Jake were looming over her desk as the class poured in, waiting for Holt to arrive. Both of them were staring at her, Rosa's eyes narrowed and Jake looking unbelievably offended.

 

Amy sighed and marked her place in the book, shutting it. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

 

“I can't believe you're having a party and didn't invite us,” Jake blurted out. He clutched his chest dramatically. “One, that hurts me deeply. Two, there's no way you're going to be able to throw a decent party without my help.”

 

“I just can't believe you would deny me the opportunity to find someone to hook up with for the night,” Rosa says, arms crossed in defiance.

 

Cue the mental image of Rosa boning down with a stranger in her bedroom, and if Amy wasn't already put off by the idea of throwing a party, she was at that moment. She couldn't afford to buy an entirely new bed spread or even begin explaining to her parents why she would need a new one anyway.

 

“The party is definitely not happening.”

 

“Well, it's a little too late for that.” Boyle popped up behind Jake, holding out his phone. Sure enough, he had an invitation from Gina to a “slammin', bammin', bangin'” party being held at her house tonight. Amy glanced at the 'invited' list and was absolutely sure she didn't even know half of the people on it.

 

She buried her face in hands, mumbling, “Where the hell is Gina?”

 

“According to her facebook status,” Charles supplied, “she ditched to go buy a new dress. Apparently one of her five boyfriends got paid today.”

 

“How many people have confirmed their invitations already?” Jake asked, snatching the phone out of Charles' hand. His eyes widened for a moment.

 

“... What.”

 

“Nothing!”

 

“Jake.”

 

“It's nothing! No one's coming. Gina forgot to invite anyone besides Charles.”

 

Amy rolled her eyes. “Whatever I'll just check on my phone.”

 

She pulled her phone out of her bag and scrolled through her apps until opened up facebook. She didn't have any new notifications.

 

“Wait a second – Gina is trying to throw a party at my house and she didn't even _invite_ me?”

 

Rosa immediately burst into laughter, Jake looked like he was trying to bite back a comment, and Charles patted her shoulder sympathetically.

 

“Don't worry, Amy, people forget to invite me to things all of the time,” Hitchcock commented from one row over.

 

“Perfect. I'm the Hitchcock of my own party.”

 

“So you _are_ having it, then?” Jake asked, beaming at her hopefully.

 

“Well, apparently people are already coming anyway. I might as well lean into it.”

 

Jake punched her shoulder goodnaturedly. “That's the spirit, buddy.”

 

The classroom door opened, and before anyone even could have any way of actually knowing, it seemed the class was all scrambling to their seats upon Holt's arrival.

 

“I apologize for my tardiness. There was an incident in the hallway on my way to class that required my intervention.”

 

“There was a fight, wasn't there?” Jake asked, leaning forward in anticipation.

 

“That's not any of your business, Peralta. You're all far too interested in violence.”

 

Jake held up his phone. “Someone already sent me a video of you pulling the kids off of each other.”

 

Wordlessly, Holt snatched the phone from Jake and chucked it into his desk drawer. Amy couldn't help but feel a little vindicated for reasons she wasn't entirely sure of.

 

–

 

“Amy, it's going to be fine.”

 

“You don't know that.”

 

From his seat on her couch, feet propped up on her coffee table despite her protests, Jake shook his head with a sigh. He'd been reassuring her for the past fifteen minutes since he arrived that everything would be fine. According to Gina's invitations people were supposed to start arriving in about a half hour, and Charles, who had offered to pick up food and drinks, was running late.

 

Needless to say, Amy was in a frenzy.

 

“What if my parents forgot something at home and come back to get it and there are people doing it on the couch?”

 

“Amy, no one is going to have sex on your couch. They'll save it for either your, your parents, or one of your brothers' bedrooms.”

 

“That's even worse!”

 

“But your parents won't see it if they come back, will they?”

 

She shot him a look. “Yeah, but they'll see the a house full of teenagers!”

 

With a large sigh, Jake picked himself up off the couch and placed his hands firmly on her shoulders. “Amy. Nothing is going to go wrong. You are going to throw an awesome party that people are going to enjoy. People will probably make out in your living room, but I will personally make sure all of the bedrooms in your house remain unviolated throughout the night.”

 

Amy nodded mutely, closing her eyes and taking a breath in and out. “Right. You're right. But what if someone breaks something--”

 

“Amy!”

 

Before either of them could get another word in edgewise, her doorbell rang. Amy sighed in relief and walked over.

 

“It took you long enough, Charle--”

 

She cut off upon seeing the face on the other side of the door. Jake couldn't see who it was from his spot in the room, but he could see her face light up as she stepped outside to hug the person on the other side of the door. Jake leaned over a little and could only spot a boy roughly the same height as him with brown hair hugging her back.

 

His legs started moving before he could even process it.

 

“Heeeeey, what's going on here?” he asked, poking his head out of the doorway.

 

“Oh!” Amy, suddenly all smiles, took a step back and gestured from Jake to the other boy. “Jake, this is Teddy. Teddy, this is Jake. Jake's a school friend, and I met Teddy at summer camp a few years ago.”

 

Something about being described as a “school friend” made Jake irrationally annoyed, but there seemed to be a more pressing concern in the form of the overly fond looks Teddy kept shooting at Amy.

 

“Nice to meet you,” Teddy said, holding his hand out for Jake.

 

Jake eyed him for a moment, eventually shaking his hand. “Yeah, you too, bro.”

 

“How did you know about the party,” Amy asked immediately upon the break of their handshake.

 

“Uh, I got an invitation from Gina. Our moms are pretty old friends, so we've known each other a while. I think she just invited everyone she's friends with, to be honest, but I recognized your address and figured it might be fun to stop by.”

 

“What a. Great friend,” Jake said, trying his best not to clench his teeth.

 

Okay, so maybe Charles did have a point. A tiny, miniscule, but definitely there point. There was something about the smiles that Amy and Teddy kept shooting at each other that was gnawing at his stomach in an admittedly jealous way.

 

“Hey guys! Sorry I'm late!” Charles walked up the steps to Amy's house, completely hidden by the bags in his arms. When he poked his head around he looked between where Jake was standing across from Amy and Teddy, who were engrossed in their own conversation.

 

“Who's that?”

 

“Teddy!” Jake nearly squawked. “Amy's camp friend!”

 

Charles nodded understandingly.

 

–

 

When Gina invited everyone, she really did invite everyone.

 

Jake had always prided himself on being a pretty popular guy, knowing most of the kids in their school. Somehow he didn't know a decent majority of the people crowding Amy's house. Plus, he's pretty sure he already broke his promise of not letting anyone get it on in one of the bedrooms. But whatever, it's not like she's paying attention anyway. With stark bitterness, Jake couldn't help but notice that Amy had spent more of the night attached at Teddy's hip.

 

Charles slid up beside him, both of them staring at Amy and Teddy whispering to each other across the room. “I've got some information.”

 

“Shoot.”

 

“According to Gina, they went to camp together for five years. Amy told her they have this on-off thing every time they see each other. They've never been able to date because they don't live close enough to make things work.”

 

“Gross. That means they've definitely kissed before.”

 

Charles shot him a look that he chose to ignore because he was definitely too far past the point of trying to save his pride. The best option had to be owning his weird jealousy.

 

“You know, they might not be interested in each other anymore,” Charles said hopefully.

 

“He looks like he wants to devour her face.”

 

Across the room, Amy laughed and placed her hand on Teddy's arm. What bothered Jake more than the possibility of Amy kissing Teddy, he figured, was seeing her laugh and have fun with him. It wasn't like he and Amy were ever actually best friends or anything, but maybe he thought they actually had gotten closer over the summer.

 

In a panic, he remembered the phone call on the train from a few weeks ago. What if she did like him back and thought he was pushing her away then? Granted, he was, but he didn't want to anymore. Maybe this was her way of moving on.

 

Or maybe Jake was just her close friend, and she was super into Teddy.

 

Jake pinched the bridge of his nose. “Is this what overthinking feels like?”

 

Charles beamed at him. “It's the worst, isn't it?”

 

“Charles, why are you _smiling_?”

 

“We're bonding!”

 

“God, I need another drink.”

 

–

 

The thing was, Jake was normally really fun at parties. He was great at drinking games, personable, and had excellent music taste. Parties were usually his time to thrive. A party at his straitlaced friend's house should have been even better.

 

Instead, he found himself stumbling out onto her front porch at eleven and sitting on the steps. Everything inside was so loud and out of control, and for once, he didn't feel in the mood for it. Which was dumb because he shouldn't have been in such a bad mood just because Amy was possibly interested in another guy. It's not like he had a claim on her or anything – she was free to like anyone she wanted.

 

But, whatever, maybe seeing her hang off of Teddy's arm all night, smiling and laughing at his jokes, was a buzz kill.

 

Jake took a sip of his drink and tapped his foot to the beat of muffled song he could hear playing inside the house. It got clearer only for a moment when the door opened, and he turned around.

 

Amy stood there, face flushed and hair a little messy. She looked almost nervous and happy at the same time. It took her a moment to spot him sitting on her front steps, but her face brightened when she did.

 

“Hey.”

 

Amy sat down next to him and offered a subdued smile. “When did you leave? I've been looking for you.”

 

Oh. _Oh_.

 

“It was starting to feel crowded in there,” he admitted. “I just needed some fresh air.”

 

“Me too. Rosa and Gina made me dance with them, and I really couldn't keep up with them. Plus, it was so sexual.” Her face flushed and eyes widened when she spoke, looking scandalized and adorable all at once.

 

Jake couldn't help but crack a grin at her expense. “Yeah, Amy, that's the kind of stuff normal teenagers do.”

 

She scowled playfully at him and elbowed his arm. Sitting out there together felt comfortable. It was still early enough in the year that night time wasn't freezing, and talking alone on the front steps of her house on a warm night felt reminiscent of the months they were stuck alone together.

 

It was nice.

 

“Teddy left a little while ago,” she said quietly.

 

Jake bit the inside of his cheek. They couldn't have a moment alone together – _of_ _course_ there had to be a catch.

 

“Yeah?”

 

She nodded. “He had to start heading home since he lives further away, but he said he had fun.”

 

Jake pursed his lips. “That's good.”

 

“Yeah... It was nice seeing him again, but something weird happened.” She paused and shared a brief look with Jake, almost hesitant. “He asked me out on a date. He said I didn't have to answer right then, but I should think about it.”

 

Jake stopped tapping his foot and swallowed hard. He knew what was coming next. Amy wanted advice on the last subject he wanted to help her with. He didn't even _know_ if he wanted to ask her out yet, but the thought of her going out with someone else still made him irrationally jealous.

 

“What are you going to say?”

 

“I don't know yet. I think I want to say yes, but the distance will still be a hassle.”

 

He shrugged and leaned forward, staring straight ahead. “I think you should do whatever you actually want to. You always overthink things.”

 

Amy looked at him with almost indiscernible expression on her face for a moment before looking back down at the steps. “You're half right. I do overthink, but I still don't know what I want.”

 

“It's not like you're in a rush – you have time to figure it out, Amy.”

 

He glanced back over at her and caught her smiling softly and nodding.

 

“Yeah, you're right.”

 

She looked pretty underneath the porch lights, hair only slightly mussed and a small smile gracing her lips. He'd been attracted to Amy before – he was a teenage boy, sue him – but it felt different. It felt almost difficult to breath for just a moment, and he wanted to kiss her.

 

“Hey, I need to tell you something.”

 

Amy looked up quickly and raised her eyebrows questioningly.

 

“I broke my promise,” he blurted out quickly, feeling like he had to catch his breath afterwards. The air didn't feel as thick anymore.

 

“What?”

 

“I'm about ninety percent sure at least four people have already hooked up in your bedroom. I kind of dropped the ball.”

 

Amy's face fell immediately at his words. “That's disgusting.”

 

“It was bound to happen.”

 

“I'm going to have to sleep in my parents' room tonight.”

 

“Yeah, I wouldn't go in there either.”

 

“Jake!”

 

As scandalized as she looked, Amy was trying her best not to break out into laughter. Jake seemed to recognize it, and once he cracked a grin, she was done for. Both of them burst into a fit of laughter. It was comfortable. Safe.

 

“You know, this party wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.”

 

“I didn't even know you knew the definition of fun.”

 

Amy rolled her eyes and tried to fight back a yawn, failing miserably. “How do you kick a mass of people out of your house?”

 

Jake thought to himself for a moment, then smirked. “I've got an idea.”

 

–

 

“COPS!”

 

Jake ran back into the house, Amy following after him frantically.

 

“THE COPS ARE ON THEIR WAY!”

 

All at once, everyone seemed to rush for an exit. The music playing stopped abruptly with almost comedic timing, like they were in a sitcom or something. Everyone was almost gone when Gina yelled over to Amy, perched on top of the shoulders of a boy Amy didn't recognize.

 

“I'm going to throw parties at your house more often, Amy!”

 

Jake snickered next to her, and Amy pinched the bridge of her nose. They said goodbye to Rosa as she walked out, and Charles, who was following her out at a distance.

 

“Not bad, Peralta,” Amy said, looking around at the now empty house. It was a mess, but that sounded more like a problem for future Amy.

 

“Well, you know how I do.”

 

They exchanged a look of mutual distaste and shook their heads.

 

“Right. Not saying that again.” He rocked on his heels and looked around. “So, uh, I probably better get going too.”

 

It hadn't occurred to Amy that Jake was leaving too, but it made perfect sense. Still, it left her feeling the tiniest bit disappointed.

 

“Oh, yeah. Text me when you get home so I know you're safe?”

 

He gave her a funny look. “Amy, I'm not going to get murdered on my walk home. It's not even late enough for murderers to be out yet.”

 

She scowled. “See – this is a lose-lose situation. You always accuse me of being mean, but when I'm nice, you pick on me.”

 

“The difficult life of Amy Santiago.”

 

Amy scoffed and took a step forward before catching herself. She had been about to give him a hug goodbye. It felt natural at first, until she remembered that Jake was Jake and it would have been completely weird.

 

“See you later,” she said as he stepped out of the doorway. Jake waved at her, and she shut the door behind him.

 

Ten minutes later, her phone went off as she was climbing into bed.

 

_'got confronted by a gang of criminal mice on my way home. fought them off with nothing but my bare hands, natural wit, and a discarded potato chip bag. more details tomorrow.'_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> still super pumped and heartbroken from tuesday's episode. 
> 
> i try to use each chapter to parallel something that happened in the show, and despite the introduction of teddy, this one was meant to align more with 'the bet' -- particularly the scene here outside of amy's house and the scene on the show on top of the roof. i'm almost always worried about the way i write jake (he never feels immature enough for me), but i also started the story mid-shift in jake and amy's relationship, so i don't know. 
> 
> in the show he still teases her, but i feel like it's been at least a little toned down since the introduction of his feelings for her. i guess i'm trying to mirror that here, but i'm not entirely sure how well i'm doing with it. thoughts/suggestions?


End file.
